


Legs to Stand On

by FicticiousDelicious



Category: Bleach
Genre: Alternate Universe, Complete, Crude Humor, DO NOT REPOST MY FANWORKS, Friendship, Homosexuality, Love, M/M, Mentions Heterosexuality, Name-Calling, No Sex, One Shot, Philosophy, Strangers to Friends to [Presumed] Lovers, Swimming, Tender Story is Tender, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, beach, garden, handicapped character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:08:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23857366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FicticiousDelicious/pseuds/FicticiousDelicious
Summary: Ichigo has a disability and Grimmjow has a crude mouth which the former seems to contend with just fine. They met, by chance or by fate, at the beach. What can come of playful and crude opposition?.If a smile is needed, this one's for you.This oneshot is complete!This is an Ao3 exclusive story! You'll only find it here.!!Disclaimer!! I do not own the characters mentioned in Legs to Stand On nor do I make any profit of any kind from their mention. Ownership of these Bleach characters goes to Tite Kubo. I do not own "The Web of Life" (quotes from) nor do I make any profit of any kind from its mention. All Characters © Tite Kubo; "The Web of Life" (lecture) © Alan WattsDeviantArt.com/FicticiousDelicious or FicticiousDelicious.Tumblr.com
Relationships: GrimmIchi, Grimmjow Jaegerjaques/Kurosaki Ichigo, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez/Ichigo Kurosaki
Comments: 12
Kudos: 70





	Legs to Stand On

**Author's Note:**

> If a smile is needed, this one's for you.
> 
> So with all of the weirdness going on in life right now it took me a while to get together the positivity required to create this lovely piece of work. Longer than I thought. Though here it is now!

Watching from a boardwalk by a sandy, beachy setting a young man named Ichigo was staring out at the waves lapping the sand and playful people running up and down the shoreline or relaxed people tanning and some athletic people jogging. The salty wind and faintly warm breeze made him sigh wistful and enamored. His short orange hair blew around in the air. Well this was nice, but life had caught up to him and finally he just had to sit down, relax and breathe…but he’d missed the beach and it was nice to be here. The blanket over Ichigo’s lap moved a little in the wind as he was settled comfortably in his _wheelchair_ and parked out of the way on the boardwalk and watching the sun shining on all of the beach-goers. He refused to be bitter, and he was pretty far from noise as this wasn’t a busy part of the walk but he was at the beach; that was what mattered. He’d always hoped for this kind of a life, so full that one day he could just sit back and enjoy remembering it but he was still young…and suddenly feeling like he was fifty-five because he couldn’t rise from this chair… Maybe he looked a little aged by that, and it could be nice to sit down, but other times he wished that he still had the option to get up. Screw it. It was just nice to relax. The salty breeze came across his face. People’s feet going around on the boardwalk behind him rattled the planks. He smiled because in actuality the sun was shining on him too.

Today Ichigo had traveled down to the beachy boardwalk by himself. Breathing open air that he always loved and sipping out of a lidded-water cup he leaned on his hand, elbow down against the arm of his chair equipped with some nice-looking three-spoke wheels. If there was anything to be proud of it should be that he polished his wheelchair himself, even if it was black chrome, until it shined. The material of the seat was vibrant red, and he had all the pockets he could ask for! Having a well-maintained and stylish sort of wheelchair helped a lot. The incident that had caused this hadn’t been accidental. He had done something to get this way, however there were no regrets, not a single one in Ichigo’s mind. What he had done needed doing and now his physical state permanently reflected that. There were just some things he missed time to time… He wouldn’t disagree with anyone for being sad, especially for their own situations like this, because he’d been sad for a while too…but if anything now it was a great story he had all to himself – this cheery, mysterious lad.

There came a point in this relaxing and beachy keen afternoon when it suddenly wasn’t so peaceful anymore though. Under an umbrella Ichigo was still on the boardwalk doing something in a workbook for foreign culture, learning, with a good amount of concentration going until a breeze came by and flipped his pages and tugged on the umbrella. He put his shade away so that it wouldn’t get turned inside out, donned his sunglasses and tightly held onto the workbook as he looked out at the beach toward the sea where the wind had come from. Other people were victims of the wind too – chasing their stuff across the sand. Ichigo fought down a chuckle; it would be mean to laugh but he was amused at the sudden scrambling across the sandy beach. The strangest thing that he saw though had to be a person’s pet cat… _a cat_ …bolting across the beach as the owner went desperately in the other direction while the wind swept up and dislodged their umbrella, which the animal’s leash was probably staked in place with.

The runaway critter was kicking up sand as it zipped over the beach. It zagged around two other people that just flat-out gave up trying to grab it because it was too fast.

The owner was just trying to keep his umbrella from hitting anybody, it was already turned inside out. He probably hadn’t even noticed the cat yet.

Ichigo’s eyes still watched the lean white cat yeeting away from its owner with leash flapping in tow and it was headed for the boardwalk. Well! He could do something about that. Since he had everything onboard already Ichigo stuffed away the workbook and gloved hands gripped the pushrims against his chair’s wheels and he was off toward the cat’s path. The handicapped man hastily intersected as the creature bounded up onto the boardwalk.

Unsurprisingly the deft cat darted around the man in his chair but it had a leash clipped on its harness so…

The clever man rolled his wheelchair forward… One of Ichigo’s main wheels caught the leash under its tire’s treads.

The cat got _yoinked_ but stopped trying to escape immediately and didn’t struggle. It looked around to figure out its situation.

A couple of people nearby had noticed Ichigo and clapped at his slick moves then began to carry on their own ways after he assured them he would handle it.

Capable despite it all, Ichigo was struggling to lean forward and get the leash out from under his wheel without letting it slip or falling out of his wheelchair but he finally got ahold of the leash and gently tugged until the cat in the harness turned around. “Pss-pss-psss. Hey, pss, come here.” He coaxed it and the cat was friendly enough to want to walk toward his hand, rub it, then noticed his blanketed footrests and rubbed against them next. Ichigo was flattered that the cat seemed to like him.

The lean white cat laid down under the shade of the handicapped man’s supported feet with a lazy sprawl across the boards.

As far as Ichigo could figure this cat was so friendly that it might’ve just been scared by the wind or looking for shade and to find a way off of the hot sand rather than running away from people. He could lean on his wheelchair’s armrest and see the furry white creature lazing and perfectly happy now. Well, it was time to get the owner’s attention and return their furry buddy.

The man who’d almost lost his broken umbrella, and his cat, seemed to be looking around frantically.

Ichigo lifted his free hand in an open-fingered glove, the sort that kept his wheelchair from destroying his palms, and waved broadly, pointing downward when he saw the man on the beach seem to look his way.

The man started to hurry over, feet in sandals flicking sand, tanned of skin with pale blue hair and wearing typical beach attire of shorts without a shirt.

Ichigo swallowed dryly as he began to realize this guy was kind of a hunk through tinted lenses. He mentally braced as the man got closer and more detailed to the eye; the guy seemed mature but young, manly, at least superficially. “Found your… _cat_. I didn’t realize you could have a cat on a leash at the beach.”

The built man had stopped at the edge of the boardwalk after going up the sandy hill leading to this less busy portion of the walk. He squinted at his target. “Yeah, you can.” The leash was handed over to him right away. “You must not get out very often pal, lots of people walk their cats.”

Ok. Maturity out the window a little. To say something like that to someone in a wheelchair…was that a crude joke or what? Maybe not the worst. Despite not finding this offensive Ichigo looked stunned as the half-naked man in board shorts and slip-on sandals fished under his footrests to get the friendly, lazy cat.

The cat’s owner scooped his pet up with his hands instead of naively dragging it toward himself with the leash…and the animal just looked so tiny compared to him as the cat curled over bare muscled arms.

Despite any obvious crudeness, there was no way to ignore this guy’s build and Ichigo wasn’t sure if he was flushing since he was already hot in this weather. Perhaps physique was so seductive to help assuage this other man’s crude behavior…or to balance it? This concept was not so simple though. There was a strange kind of juxtaposition in hearing one thing and seeing another. It was not something just anyone could tolerate…or enjoy. Trying not to admire the natural hunk aesthetic of this man too close, Ichigo smiled anyway and decided to take a stab at this guy, “You should never have a pet you can’t outrun.” He straightened the wheelchair so that he was facing the stranger and held the wheels still, looking coolly through his shades.

A remark like that got this man’s attention squarely, so much it almost pissed him off but it was also kind of amusing – a challenge. He squinted a little more. “It’s good exercise.” Petting his friendly cat with a large coarse hand the hunky guy looked sharper toward Ichigo – not as a man in a wheelchair but just as another man. “You’re one to talk.”

 _Ooof!_ Ichigo’s face twisted into a smirk. “I caught the beast.”

The cat yawned and stretched a foreleg and paw out past its owner’s arms.

The owner smirked stubbornly. “I would have.”

“Yes, yes…if you insist.” Ichigo waved a hand dismissively then crossed his arms, vaguely trying to flex and show their muscle off under the edges of his short sleeves. He was muscular too…from the glutes up!

“Hey…I like to work _hard_ …I _don’t_ miss my marks.”

“Unless it’s a race. I beat you. I’d beat you again,” Ichigo snickered.

“In a _downhill_ one…”

“You think I’m _that_ lazy? That’s a _strange_ idea I’m not even familiar with.”

“Hmmf. You should be. Your legs are _round_.”

“Are yours _supposed to_ flap like that when you run?”

 _Buuurn_ … The pale-blue-haired man’s eyes widened. This guy was just as brutal. Instead of throwing out another jab the stranger with blue hair’s equally as blue eyes fell to a squint as this orange-haired guy was snickering more. Then the man with the cat started to smirk but he didn’t laugh back; he actually seemed pretty chill about the whole savage jabs thing. In some way it just felt fucking natural.

The cat yawned and lazily stretched out more across its owner’s supportive forearms under a petting hand – maybe the only lazy one here.

Ichigo was done snickering. “Well you’re welcome for your cat.” The handicapped man turned his wheelchair around with a smile and started to roll away down the boardwalk turning the wheels by their pushrims. A quick departure. For some reason that little joust was so _satisfying_. He wasn’t even sure if there was a winner but he wanted to hold onto that gem exactly as it was for a while. Maybe it was just being able to talk to someone without them being super sensitive. Just feeling like a human, it was so real.

Scruffling his cat’s fur idly as it playfully started biting his hands, the cat’s owner moved his lips in a way that betrayed not knowing what to say next and before he knew it the other guy was going off in another direction. _Wait a second..!_ The man with his friendly feline was frozen, assessing, and he was trying to scrape words together. When the tanned beach-goer finally snapped his brain back together from that whiplash of a ‘goodbye’, or was it really…he went chasing after the man in the wheelchair. “Hey, asshole, where you going?”

A sparse couple of people around them gave the crude man some strange looks of disapproval in passing.

Ichigo didn’t seem to mind though, as he used his gloved palms to stop his chair and turned slightly by holding one rim and rolling the other wheel. “Oh? What do you want?”

“You _know_ what I want.”

Ichigo lifted a brow, he hadn’t a clue. “I don’t read minds.”

The hunk with the cat suddenly realized that he had no idea why he’d responded like that; it didn’t even make sense. He seemed vaguely frustrated trying to patch up his own words. “You know..! _Thanks_.” _There!_ If that was the only word that got out of his mouth at least it counted for something.

“Hmm? You’re welcome. Anything else?” Ichigo knew he had the upper hand right now and he was painfully slick about it.

 _Ooooh_ , this guy was going to talk to him like that was he? So frustrating, but also… “ _What_ else?” …magnetizing.

“I dunno. That’s up for you to decide.” With a sly smile Ichigo turned his wheelchair away again and started to roll off as he had been before. Just slow enough…

The shirtless and tanned beach-goer walked briskly to get up in front of him and stopped the handicapped man from going anywhere with more looks of disapproval from the people around them.

The white cat had woken up a little bit more and looked straight at Ichigo with soft blue eyes before trying to go back to sleep, lazily, again.

“You should probably get back before your stuff gets stolen,” Ichigo nudged with suggestion and a smile as he appreciated this guy’s physique blocking him from leaving.

“My girlfriend’s watching it. Why the hell’re you talking to me like that?”

It was just like a brick was dropped on his head; Ichigo felt sunk in an instant. _‘Girlfriend? …damnit.’_ Everything in him screamed to stop flirting _right now_. A voice from behind asked if everything was alright here and Ichigo assured a uniformed person that it was. After the security person walked away Ichigo sighed up at the man with his cat and bowed his head, “I’m terribly sorry,” trying to get around him and surprisingly the man with the cat let him go without a fuss. A polite and quick departure. Ichigo went to the shade to relax and watch the beach more and to observe the people carrying on through the evening, but he didn’t stay much longer; he just didn’t feel like it. So at the very next chance to leave the boardwalk he took it and rolled on home. He was disappointed, maybe a touch embarrassed still, but not crushed. It wouldn’t keep him away from the beach. There were _lots_ of other hunks he could flirt with he supposed… At least the beach was a little more exciting than he’d figured!

It was a few weeks later before Ichigo had the time to go down to the beach again. He went alone because everyone else he knew was in school or working; they were always so busy… He sat happily in the shade and watched the waves lapping the sand and playful people running up and down the shore or relaxed people tanning and some athletic people jogging. It was just like before. The climate in this province was eternally nice, unless there was a typhoon…he’d seen those before in his life but not again since he was a teen. The man was glad. The salty wind and faintly warm breeze off the sea made him sigh wistful and enamored- Ichigo snapped out of pretending like he was a weathered elderly gentleman remembering the things that he had once enjoyed and blinked. He blinked toward a guy in a hood and a cloth-lined jean jacket plus board shorts sat down on the edge of the boardwalk where there was a bit of a steep slope of sand…a man who didn’t look happy in the _slightest_. To most it was so natural to ignore other people who were ambiguous and worrisome that people on the boardwalk went around this guy easily…but not Ichigo. He had a sense about certain people that felt like they were really in need of something. Even just a chat. He gripped the pushrims and moved his stylish wheelchair to roll on over.

When distance closed the unhappy man looked toward someone presumed stout at a glance and approaching with a soft ‘hello’. This man had pale blue hair and blue eyes.

Rapidly two strangers recognized each other but the man with pale blue hair who’d brought his cat to the beach before was without the cat and immediately didn’t look very sociable and the fellow in the wheelchair seemed like he remembered the awkward way they’d left things and was perhaps gun-shy.

Squinting because of the sun, Ichigo still opened his mouth to say something else but one of his wheels had gone off the edge of the boardwalk as he wasn’t paying attention and in what felt like a second he was in a heap down a short hill of sand laying by his wheelchair. “Oooouch…” he grumbled. There was sand in his orange hair and all over him really. Bruises…there would be _bruises_ … He could hear one of the wheels on his chair spinning. In the next second people were staring and the man he’d come over to help was helping _him_ up and shooing gawkers.

“He’s fine! He’s fine, get the hell outta here, _vultures_.”

People seemed disgusted with this man’s attitude and stubborn to leave but the guy eventually scared them off.

Ichigo was grateful though; he didn’t like to be a spectacle. He did cling to the guy’s open jacket, durable denim and cloth-lined as he was sat up. Strangely this guy was just like before; nothing like this had happened so far to them but the man’s vibes felt the same. Ichigo was sat up on the sand, as up as it got for him without his chair, while the stranger he’d met again made sure he wasn’t hurt badly and then the man went to the tipped wheelchair.

The hunk, whose hood had fallen back revealing his short and messy blue hair, picked the chair up like it was paper and shook the sand out of it. That _wasn’t_ a light wheelchair, color disregarded. Then the man of pale blue hair set the wheelchair down, brushed off the red material of the seat and started picking things up to shake them off and put them back in its pockets with some direction from the owner.

Having scooted closer on his butt Ichigo was trying to assist. “In that pocket. Thank you.” This was so embarrassing come to think of it, but at least this guy was nice enough to help him right himself. Ichigo moved up like he was ready to get back into his wheelchair now, staring at it irritably. Stylish…black and red…and it had _betrayed him_ on this occasion, the fucking thing. It was probably going to need sand cleaned out of the axles now. Great… He noticed the other man shaking off his legs’ blanket in another direction and as the guy was about to fold it and hang it over the pushbar on the back of the chair Ichigo tugged on his leg. “Wait, that’s for my legs.” It felt a bit self-conscious to say that… He was handed the blanket, which was in fact a comfortable self-conscious habit for him.

Then a person in uniform came over and it took Ichigo _ten minutes_ to convince them that the man with blue hair was _not_ bothering him. Those damn people before had tattled on his help! Trouble was magnetized with this hunky guy around for sure, though Ichigo didn’t seem to be annoyed by that.

The hunky helper looked irritated as the security person went away, but didn’t make it worse.

Ichigo breathed a relieved breath. He straightened his lean and rather normal-looking legs by hand as they laid across the warm sand and covered them up with his blanket. At least the sand wasn’t burning today; he still had feeling in these limbs.

As they were alone again the man of blue hair, named Grimmjow, noticed that sans the blanket this guy actually had pretty normal legs and feet, maybe a little thin…but ones that looked pretty ok for one so handicapped as to need a wheelchair. There were normal nails, skin and hair and all there and some scars but they were extremely well healed. “How’d you get crippled?”

Still sitting on the sand Ichigo’s eyes snapped up. _Wow_. He was caught off-guard by this man’s persistently crude behavior. “Well I was hit by a car,” he explained and no more needed said. Again there was that _strange_ kind of juxtaposition…in hearing one thing and seeing another… This man helped him out very kindly but mouthed off to him like he had no manners, manners typically tuned for handicapped people even.

“Damn.”

Despite what he could have needlessly made very awkward Ichigo nodded and smiled, “Careful who you say that around. I don’t mind ‘cripple’ but other people will.”

Clearly having something against other people the jacketed man, Grimmjow, rubbed his neck and looked away, “Do I look like I give a fuck?” But no ills toward Ichigo…he very much gave a fuck about the guy who’d helped him yesterday. The crude guy also figured it probably sucked to sit on the boardwalk and watch the beach alone all day. “You wanna go for a walk?” He pointed at the shoreline.

Having been shown to be wearing swimming trunks and sandals, as though he wanted to be on the beach with everyone else, Ichigo blinked at the unexpected offer. _Hell yes he did!_ “Yes! Sure!” Ichigo looked up with a wide-eyed interest that sparkled in his eyes.

The other man shrugged and looked at the wheelchair sitting on sand. That thing was better-looking than any other chairs he’d ever seen people use but it was useless on sandy terrain. “So does this thing, like, _fold_ …or what?”

They left the wheelchair on the sands of the beach closer to the water with Grimmjow’s stuff and while the hunk carried Ichigo around on his back, he hadn’t hesitated to offer, Ichigo relaxed against his broad shoulders. Grimmjow was still wearing his cloth-lined and jean jacket above board shorts. He didn’t mind giving the other guy a piggyback everywhere, including into the water which splashed and dripped off of their clothing. It was broad daylight in the afternoon and the beach was a little busy. The man of pale blue hair was currently walking them up out of the waves of the sea; they’d been swimming! Sort of.

Now they were actually going for that walk as Ichigo insisted that they traverse the shoreline and chat. They made funny remarks and told messed up jokes. They complained about the government and the price of stuff. They shared what they did for work and what they did for fun. Ichigo found out Grimmjow’s girlfriend wasn’t his girlfriend anymore because someone had knocked her up and Grimmjow found out that Ichigo was _intentionally_ – not accidentally – hit by a car. Neither of them moped. They just started talking about more things, different things. Food. Friends. Fun shit. The strange simplicity behind hard times was to find other things than the hard time to dwell on.

“I didn’t think you could swim.” Grimmjow hadn’t known that people could still swim without their legs working.

“Yep! I can.” A matter of controlling buoyancy and use of the rest of his body including breath. Ichigo put his chin on top of Grimmjow’s head. Now that they were out of the water they were drying off quickly because it was daytime and hot weather. “I can do a lot of things if I can get to them.” Beach wheelchairs were a thing but he didn’t have the money to rent one! Definitely not to own one either…and the puffy tires couldn’t go on his chair’s model. Ichigo realized that it was lofty up here at six plus feet in the air! “You barely got in past your hips. Can you swim? I can teach you.”

“I don’t like deep water.”

“Oh. … Do you play sports?”

“For fun. Volleyball. Soccer. Surfing.”

“Oh cool! I used to play soccer, and practice karate. Doesn’t that count as a sport?”

“I think so.”

Ichigo tilted his head down to look at the waves washing up over the wet sand that Grimmjow’s big feet were walking over and had left fading prints in. He watched his own calves and feet dangling as the other man was holding him up against his back – hands under his trunk-covered thighs. The noise of the busy beach faded into the background as his thoughts fixed on something else… Ichigo couldn’t move his legs or feet willingly even if he wanted to; not even wiggle his toes. It was so frustrating to be so far from there, to just feel the essence of something he used to be able to do but never to be able to do it again. He could feel his legs, he just couldn’t use them anymore. Maybe in time that would change too… Ichigo realized his thoughts were sinking and immediately started thinking about the texture, scent and warmth of the man carrying him, how glad he was to be outside, how happy he was to actually be alive. He wouldn’t be stuck in sadness. He wouldn’t! It would do no good. The fair-skinned and handicapped man’s thoughts changed over onto a happier track while he watched his legs dangle and Grimmjow’s legs take strides. Sometimes his bumped into the legs that carried him. It made Ichigo smile and the urge to cry went away and became a blush; it wasn’t just the heat. Would Grimmjow think that was weird, since he was straight?

“What’re ya so quiet for?”

“You have nice calves,” Ichigo realized he’d said that out loud. He chuckled anxiously. Oops. Couldn’t take it back now. “Nice calves…and you clearly _do_ like working hard.” Save…

Grimmjow didn’t say much, just continued walking along the shore and carrying the other man on his back.

“Why are _you_ so quiet?” Ichigo confronted back.

“Got nothing to say.” But lots to think about…

At that point Ichigo realized that they might’ve talked about everything possible for now. He tucked his head against the back of the guy’s neck on top of the hood for the cloth-lined and denim jacket and just smiled as he was carried down the shoreline and back for about forty minutes. It was a great time even if they weren’t talking for most of it. No one should disturb their stuff because who the fuck would mess with a wheelchair, that just didn’t happen around here, and Grimmjow’s setup didn’t have anything else really valuable to it. Ichigo didn’t even worry about his chair despite the chance; he just clung to Grimmjow and relaxed. This was different than relaxing before. He’d made a friend.

When returning Grimmjow tromped through the dry sand back to their stuff as some people around the beach were starting to pack up and leave in the later afternoon. The men both sat in the sand and Grimmjow shared his lunch. It was just half of a sandwich and water but something that Ichigo didn’t expect and seemed totally happy for. Grimmjow’s further quiet demeanor proved calming.

Ichigo didn’t feel like he had to talk much. The handicapped fellow even fell asleep for twenty minutes worth of a nap after they were done eating. He probably knew something weird could happen but he didn’t feel like he needed to worry. Twenty minutes passed…Ichigo started as he woke up from the nap suddenly. _Woah_ …why had he woken up? He felt startled.

Laying down too, but at a small distance and on his side, Grimmjow flinched beside his company as he noticed Ichigo notice something.

Ichigo mumbled, vaguely aware but so warm and cozy in the sun… “What were you doing? You scared me…”

“ _You_ scared _me_ ,” Grimmjow corrected. “What were _you_ doing?”

“I was asleep…” Ichigo yawned and fell back asleep for ten more minutes, sleeping on his arms so there was no sand in his face. When he started to wake up again Ichigo turned over on his back. There was no sand under it… Now exposed to the fading sun Ichigo opened his eyes up in a squint and realized that his legs’ blanket had been placed over him and he’d just rolled over on it; his new friend had covered him up! Ichigo shut his eyes and smiled. He started curling the edges of the blanket around himself again. “Hey, thanks for not taking advantage of me.”

Sitting up watching the waves and sea Grimmjow yawned then blinked away from the watery view as his blue eyes turned toward Ichigo. “As far as you can tell.”

“I can tell.” Ichigo smirked, still laying on his back and not caring how his legs were – sort of twisted with one over the other. His sunscreen had probably partially washed off so it was nice to imagine that because of being covered up he might not be sunburnt, plus it was actually a little chilly as the sun was going down.

Grimmjow leaned over and placed a small white flower with thick leaves and wide petals on top of Ichigo’s chest, who nearly went cross-eyed trying to look at it. “Found that.”

After having a surprised look Ichigo’s face then turned into a soft smile as he let go the blanket and lifted the flower. He looked at it fondly then put its stem behind his ear after. He liked plants, almost as much as he liked the sand and sea here at the beach. Ichigo shut his eyes happily and clutched the blanket around himself again. “This is a sea daffodil.”

“A _what?_ ”

“They’re a type of daffodil that grows in sediment.”

Watching his company with a curiosity Grimmjow could see how much Ichigo seemed to like the flower. He had felt pretty bad about stepping on its other bloom…and breaking the stem, all when he was tromping over to the porta-john on the side of the beach; Grimmjow had gone off to use the bathroom quickly while Ichigo as napping. He’d really just given the flower to Ichigo because of the flower pattern on the other man’s trunks, but now he felt less bad because it had someone to love it until it wilted. He hadn’t expected it to be significant. Grimmjow blinked out of deeper thought and stared at the sand. How could plants grow in this stuff..?

“It was so lucky to meet you again.”

“Nah…I’m always here.”

Hazel eyes open again Ichigo tilted his head, body relaxed and flecked with sand and the flower behind his ear. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Grimmjow insisted, pushing his feet into the sand where there was warmth.

Ichigo immediately figured that his new friend must enjoy the beach environment a lot too. He was half-right. “All your friends are fish then. _Except_ me.”

“No, I think you’re a fish too. You swim like a fish.”

“And you _don’t_ swim, so _hush_ or you’ll expose me needlessly,” Ichigo chuckled.

“Heh. You know what pisses me off?”

Ichigo looked puzzled at the sudden swing of topic. “No, what?” He turned on his side, arranging his legs so that they felt relaxed and keeping his thighs from squishing unmentionables that hung lower in the heat. Comfort was key! Clutching his blanket over his shoulder for continued warmth Ichigo’s eyes trailed toward Grimmjow, awaiting the answer.

The man had taken a long moment to just second-guess himself. “Eh…never mind.” Grimmjow frowned then shrugged.

Ichigo looked a little disappointed that Grimmjow hadn’t told him, then changed the topic himself this time. “Well I think friends should get chili fries tomorrow, do you?”

Mood quickly switched, Grimmjow was immediately salivating and wiped his mouth to try not to drool. “That’s a fucking good idea.”

Ichigo liked how excited the other man sounded.

_Friends_ did get chili fries the next day, for _breakfast_ of all meals! They had exchanged phone numbers to meet up. Now the men were eating their fries and drinking some cold soda outside on a very nice morning at a comfortable restaurant that Ichigo had been to before. The chili fries were smothered so perfectly with melting cheese, beef, sour cream, jalapeños and seasoned to perfection. Their sodas were crisply carbonated and cold. Ichigo beat Grimmjow at rock, paper and scissors to pay the check and planned to gloat about it later. He was so happily distracted that he hadn’t even placed his blanket over his legs today, a self-conscious habit sometimes – for comfort even on warm days.

The wonder why, from a text last night, Grimmjow had asked Ichigo if _breakfast_ was fine for such heavy food became apparent when after eating they got into Grimmjow’s all-terrain vehicle and drove somewhere else kind of special for the rest of the morning and afternoon… There was a botanical garden close by in their province that was beautiful this warm time of the year with mass amounts of leafy plants and flowers. Something about its attractions was also extremely unique. Visitors could walk the long and pergola trellis-covered pathways and see lawns and fields of carefully planted flowers, sculpted bushes and artistic fountains, but they could also take a trip to a pond under a wisteria engulfed tree within the garden and swim with koi fish!

Totally not in the loop about the koi pond feature, just having Grimmjow suggest in the text about breakfast that he wear his trunks with a t-shirt and sandals, Ichigo had been mostly wheeling himself around the botanic garden as Grimmjow walked beside him. His friend had paid their admission. Ichigo’s hands in open-finger gloves gripped the pushrims of the wheels and strongly muscled arms turned them. Someone might’ve questioned why Grimmjow wasn’t helping out but he _already_ had and in this peaceful place no one was so nosy. It was nice and easy on these wide, flat pathways; happily Ichigo wanted to move along on his own anyway.

All of the other visitors to the garden today looked happy too. It was a beautiful place.

Among the nature, really taking notice of Ichigo’s arms – now that he got to see his friend use the wheelchair for a long time, Grimmjow liked knowing someone strong enough to endure that kind of a workout. The hunk knew exercise when he saw it. Grimmjow was wearing much the same outfit as his friend but board shorts again – they were longer and more rugged than trunks, and had _pockets!_

The garden visitors saw hanging flowers, sculpted bushes, ground flowers, climbing plants and trees! There was a massive woody and pinkish weeping tree at the front entrance to the garden. Further in they found so many more plants, though mostly flowers. Berry bushes, scrubs, bright trees, ivies, vines, bines, tulips, daffodils, geraniums, petunias, hyacinths, hydrangeas, marigolds, asters, pansies, bellflowers, alliums, irises, daises, honeysuckle, lilies, roses, carnations so, _so_ many! All were either on the lawns or among features like planters and the pergola trellises and stone fountains filled with water and sometimes lily pads. The wind carried their mixed scents, strong and sweet.

Figuring that his friend had probably read his love of plants from that daffodil, Ichigo wholeheartedly enjoyed this; the _beauty_ of the garden and the _thoughtfulness_ of a friend.

Grimmjow was being so relaxed about it all though; like he didn’t know how thoughtful this was. He did know that his friend would like this, but he didn’t expect how much. He was just here to hang out and there were beautiful plants and nice long paths to walk and plenty of time. Grimmjow’s quiet, observational demeanor most of the time was so calming. It was this place, there was no reason to be disruptive…unless his company got him going.

Every other second Ichigo was delighted by something’s appearance or smell and it was a weekday so they weren’t crowded and it was easier to stop and admire. Ichigo knew he didn’t have to talk; he could just look around. It was _great!_ So far they’d been wandering for two hours, working on burning away the afternoon. _‘The smell is so wonderful here…’_ The man in the red material, black chrome and black metal wheelchair breathed easy.

“What’s your favorite?” Grimmjow’s voice came out of nowhere.

Ichigo was surprised; he hadn’t heard his friend remark for at least a half an hour. “Hmm. Plumeria flowers.” They hadn’t seen those yet. Ichigo looked at Grimmjow as they were moving along a flat outdoor pathway scattered with petals.

“They like feathers or something?”

“Haha, no. They’re the tropical ones leis are made of.” Ichigo glanced at the path to make sure he was rolling straight.

“The fuck? Leis?”

“Leis! Big flower necklaces worn for celebration. You’d look handsome in one of those.”

Grimmjow looked surprised by that unexpected remark; he didn’t say anything back. Flower necklace his ass…no way was that his jam… Right..?

Fortunately for one of them Ichigo didn’t notice as he was swept up in a memory, rolling along the pathway slowly as his hands instinctively used the pushrims to keep momentum. “I saw leis when I traveled with my family and again when I traveled alone. I have a picture or two at home. The flowers on a lei covered up half of my face when I was little, but you’d be surprised how good they look over your shoulders when you grow up.” Smiling Ichigo started to speed up guiding his wheelchair toward a directory for the garden. “Let’s see if they have a tropical enclosure!” Well the men found that there was one and traveled across the massive garden to see it. Ichigo looked eager.

The greenhouse’s entrance was covered in leafy, curling grape vines around the doors. A staff member was letting people try the grapes before they went in. Each grape was huge and popped with a juicy flavor.

Grimmjow liked grapes a lot, and no one would have ever known if he hadn’t started to smile as wide as he did when he ate one of these. The staff member let him have _one_ more. Two huge grapes! He could have sworn they each weighed an ounce. Grimmjow was also hopped up on a good amount of allergy meds since before they got here, not making that known. Plants really screwed with his sinuses, but with these long-lasting meds he’d be fine. Still he was happy to go wherever in the garden with his friend.

Ichigo managed to peel his grape and ate it like that. A curious technique.

After a grape time, they went into the tropical greenhouse. It was hotter in here and the walkway through was narrower, the path had artful leaf imprints in it, so behind his handicapped friend Grimmjow kept in-line and they looked around with wide eyes. Big and small, exceptionally weird plants! This freaking glassy greenhouse felt like a different world. Not knowing until now that nature could produce anything like the shapes of some of these flowers and plants, the tall man was minding his head – ducking. Some of these tropical plants hung their drooping blooms and huge leafy fronds down low. The tall hunk had to admit that these tropical plants had the coolest colors, even though they were consistently trying to high-five him in the _face_.

Palms, ferns, begonias, morning glories, orchids, birds of paradise, hibiscus, lobster claws, more lilies, more asters, dahlias, lotus, gardenias, venus flytraps…and finally…the sweetly twisting plumeria flowers with their five petals going around in a neatly spun pattern.

Ichigo sighed happily to see his favorite tropical flowers again; it had been a really long time. The fragrance of these was out of this world and so sweet. These plumerias were variations of pinkish, whitish and yellowish. Ichigo was trying to take a picture of them with his phone; the men had stopped on the leaf-printed pathway to look.

Grimmjow blinked as he smartly realized that he’d never seen this sort of flower on a necklace before _but_ he had seen it _somewhere_ …wait a sec… He looked down to Ichigo’s lap at the pattern of the distracted man’s trunks. _That’s_ where he’d seen them! Ichigo’s flowery, white and yellowish, trunks. Patting himself on the back a moment Grimmjow realized in the next that Ichigo’s phone wasn’t easy to take good pictures with and quickly offered his own cellphone to the other man since it took really nice pictures easily.

After about a dozen clicks Ichigo handed the phone back with gratitude. “Thanks!”

“I’ll email them to you.”

“Now you want my _email?_ ” Ichigo looked falsely snide.

Grimmjow squinted; he didn’t mean it weirdly but he knew Ichigo understood. “It’s better quality than a text.”

“Just don’t forward me porn…” the orange-haired man whispered, leaning back in his wheelchair with a smirk.

Grimmjow scoffed as he was putting his phone away and they were starting to move on. “Flower porn…” he mumbled back.

Ichigo snickered.

They moved through the rest of the tropical greenhouse to see all of the batshit crazy plants, some with strange musky smells and others far sweeter, in here. It was really its own world in that greenhouse. Outside in the garden they stopped off for a snack and gave Grimmjow a chance to send Ichigo the photographs. Nearby some lady dressed as a sprite was floating around blowing soapy bubbles for kids to chase; it was amusing to watch. The men glance at the other visitors around and to see so many people in such a good mood was inspiring and infectious. Their snack, spicy and crunchy fried mushrooms wrapped in seaweed and ice cream, was paid for by Grimmjow this time. It was only fair. “I think my _grease_ intake for today is higher than calories…” but Grimmjow was still enjoying eating the fried food.

“You worry too much about your girlish figure.” Ichigo leaned forward in his wheelchair and teased the other man with a mushroom. “There is a fungus among us~”

Man, that sounded silly. Grimmjow sniffed and smirked as he bit the mushroom out of his friend’s fingers. Crunch, crunch! Grimmjow swallowed before picking up another seaweed-wrapped, breaded and fried mushroom. “Did ya know people can bite with upwards of a hundred pounds of pressure?”

Their ice cream was set aside for the moment in a tray. Ichigo looked so surprised at the little bit of mushroom left, then shrugged and popped it in his mouth. Crunch! “I did not know that.”

“Now you know. I’m full of useless information.” Grimmjow smirked.

“Hey me too.”

After food they stopped by the bathrooms where Grimmjow had the sudden decency to offer help if Ichigo needed it but after a second of having said ‘do you need help in there’ they awkwardly stared at each other and Ichigo assured the other man that he would be fine solo. So Grimmjow got to kick himself, for what he thought was being weird, for a few minutes until Ichigo was done in a stall and washing his hands in the multi-person bathroom.

Ichigo flicked water at the man who looked busy with his thoughts.

Grimmjow’s vision came up abruptly.

“No matter what you’re thinking, you’re a helpful guy and I appreciate it.” He wasn’t daft; he knew Grimmjow felt awkward. Ichigo’s expression lifted, having talked softer so their voices in the otherwise unoccupied bathroom didn’t echo too much.

Gradually Grimmjow didn’t feel so awkward anymore. Without saying so yet, Grimmjow knew someone who worked at this botanical garden; he’d called them in advance before their visit. He was clearly the sort of person to be mindful. So after he and Ichigo spent all day going around the observational parts, with all the other normal visitors, when it was closing time an announcement was reminding everyone to get out but Grimmjow explained to Ichigo that they didn’t have to leave yet.

At first thinking this was a joke Ichigo looked cheeky with a ‘yeah right’ attitude but so puzzled when Grimmjow sincerely assured him it wasn’t a joke and started leading him somewhere. Not that Ichigo was even close to being ready to go home, he would have slept here overnight in this wonderful garden if they’d let him. Camping outdoors wasn’t quite what was in store though.

The men went to one of the staff offices and checked in with the person that Grimmjow knew who made sure they understood some rules such as obviously not picking things or littering. This staff member gave them badges and walked them through petal-scattered paths in the garden – mysteriously empty without any other visitors. It was a garden that you felt like you could get lost in when there were no people to follow, and perhaps that was a beautiful thing. The three were walking and wheeling toward the koi pond with a grand tree covered in hanging bines that drooped down, flowering and softly purplish. The grand wisteria. Groups of blooms by the _hundreds_. Somehow Grimmjow had managed to keep Ichigo from noticing this until now.

Ichigo’s mouth started to hang open as they came under the first of the wisteria blooms while traveling the garden path. His amazed hazel eyes were so fixed upward that he was moving slower. This was… _so beautiful_. Something about this grand plant took root in his heart and soul. He could smell them…the fragrance was sweet…

Less stunned but still admiring the pergola supported tree and blooms, Grimmjow noted Ichigo slowing down and the two walking also slowed down to give the man of orange hair a chance to gawk. “Pretty tree huh?”

“Breathtaking…though…it’s not a tree really- Well there _is_ a tree but those flowers are part of a woody sort of climbing plant. It’ll grow up anything it touches… They can take so long to get this many blooms… I wish I’d known this wisteria was here! It’s _amazing_ … I would have come to see it sooner.” Ichigo was somehow managing to maintain a slow momentum without taking his eyes down, and careful not to go off the path. The scent…so sweet and gentle from here. He felt this deep into his being; this could have been a dream of the sweetest kind.

The staff member grinned. Clever fellow this handicapped guy was.

Some of the flowers had fallen on the path and around the lawns beneath.

The three arrived at the koi pond, enclosed by trellises instead of fences and pergolas as support for the tree with its heavy neighbor’s blooms hanging over the lawn and pond in the area. Purple petals drifted down sometimes.

Further surprised Ichigo was just as happy to look at the pond, fish wiggling around in it, but when he found out that they were going _swimming_ in it he got shocked and elated. “Really?!”

“Yep,” Grimmjow was nodding.

The staff member assured the happy man in the wheelchair that it was true, then they unlocked the gate with a badge and opened up the area to the pond. Something about helping make an impaired person so happy was charming.

Grimmjow had yet to really grasp that concept, if it was even necessary. This was just hanging out, having fun with a friend.

There were a few more rules to protect the fish in the pond, the men each signed a paper that said they would follow the rules, and then the staff member left them _alone_ to go visit the pond.

“Pinch me…” Ichigo remarked and flinched as Grimmjow literally pinched him. He squinted at his friend.

Grimmjow shrugged.

Ichigo pinched him back.

Grimmjow acted like he hadn’t felt it.

Ichigo snickered at his friend’s stubbornness. He was so excited about this. The whole area was theirs for a little while, grassy and green with scattered blooms except the stones encircling the koi pond as a border and a ladder to get into it. So they left the black and red wheelchair just inside the gate with everything except their shorts. Ichigo also had a small request, if Grimmjow felt strong enough…

Of course taking that as a challenge, Grimmjow also knew he could do it…he picked Ichigo up and put the other grown man on his shoulders. He secured Ichigo’s legs with one arm. “You good?” He felt Ichigo wobbling and raised his other arm to offer a hand and they stabilized in a second.

“Yes!” Holding onto one of Grimmjow’s hands for added balance, and the other man holding onto his legs, Ichigo was up about ten feet in the air surrounded by dripping purple blooms and small green leaves. The dream was deepening. “Wow…” He started to smile wider. Hazel eyes turned all around as he looked and inhaled. It smelled like a sweet floral heaven, almost too much for his senses but with such open air it was just right. Fresh air coming through the branches blew the blooming strands of the bines with an elegance. The friends stayed still for a minute, giving Ichigo plenty of time to take this in. He continued to smile; he smiled _so_ wide. Ichigo’s bare chest rose and fell with every wonderful breath he got of the sweet-scented air up here. He had so much respect for things of beauty like these bines.

Grimmjow was kind of able to look to the side and up to see; he could definitely smell ‘em. The flowers were pretty, his orange-haired buddy seemed to be having a happy, nerdy moment going, and good for him! Ichigo was a nice guy and deserved to be happy. Smiling too, Grimmjow wondered how much this guy really knew about plants. “No picking. Not even your nose.”

“I would _never_. Either of those!” Ichigo glanced at Grimmjow’s tilted head who _pretended_ to pick his own nose. “ _Gross_.”

“Hey, stop looking down on me.”

Again Ichigo glanced at his supporter, “ _Hey_ , don’t lean your head back, you’ll squish my _balls_.” He was already sitting pretty close to Grimmjow’s neck.

A smirking and shirtless Grimmjow scoffed then started walking them toward the pond, supportive muscles flexing. “ _HEY_. Don’t lean and I’ll try not to.” How very thoughtful.

Now Ichigo was dodging the wisteria strands so that he didn’t damage their beautiful blooms, easy enough to _lean_ and avoid…

“Uuurgh…” Grimmjow fretted about Ichigo doing _exactly_ what he’d told him _not_ to do but realized why and didn’t fuss much as he focused on balance. It was a short walk to the pond but it felt like it would last them both a lifetime. Grimmjow coordinated Ichigo sliding down onto his back before he set the other man down on the lawn by the ladder.

Ichigo situated his legs and immediately went for the pond’s ladder, careful not to splash a ton as he got in. The staff member had warned them about that – be _nice_ to the fish. The pond’s water was temperate but it felt a little chilly. Ichigo exhaled and pushed away from the ladder to give Grimmjow room. For a minute here the fish swam away in annoyance or fear but eventually started to come back to investigate the visitor treading water with swishing arms. “They’re nibbling! Oh gosh… _heck!_ ”

A smirking Grimmjow merely watched from the edge with his feet in. This was funny. Ichigo’s expression was even funnier. If he hadn’t seen this man swim before he might’ve been worried.

“Eeek, haha!” Ichigo was having a great time in the pond but he couldn’t help noticing among all the fish and nature hanging overhead that _one thing_ was missing… “So your friends _are_ all fish. Will you get in to say hi?” Ichigo watched Grimmjow ignore his question while the curious fish continued exploring him and sometimes Grimmjow’s submerged calves. Those nice, hairy, muscular calves… “You’re able to swim with those things right?”

“Only if you need me to.”

Ichigo made a sound and swam over to the edge where he could hold onto the bordering rocks there and rest a minute while he would try harder to coax Grimmjow in. He could swim but it wasn’t super easy. Ichigo felt his feet touch the bottom and used his torso to shift his legs to set his soles down like he was standing. This was part of what made swimming so great; he felt like his body was normal. Of course the fish followed Ichigo and now they were nibbling on _both men_ quite a lot. He realized Grimmjow was trying not to laugh. “They recognize you, you _fishman_.”

Grimmjow genuinely smiled looking around at the water with the peace of the botanical garden in the background and sweet scent of wisteria overhead. Sometimes a purple bloom drifted down and touched the water, spreading ripples. If there was ever a time to get over his fears… It took a little extra consideration on his own but Grimmjow decided he’d get in too. Besides, the water was only shoulder-high for a tall guy like him, and he couldn’t let this guy beat him at swimming Grimmjow reminded himself after observing Ichigo. He carefully moved off the stone border without the ladder and lowered into the chilly water with a notably nervous exhale. Grimmjow would have given just about anything to suppress that but he couldn’t. His feet met the bottom and he was able to relax.

Hanging onto the side, and really happy about Grimmjow getting in too, Ichigo laid his head against an arm while he was able to feel weightless in the water and also while his friend got used to this. For a bold and crude guy, Grimmjow sure looked _nervous_ this time. It did seemed like the playful fish assuaged his friend of that a little though. So why..? Ichigo was trying to figure out the other man’s fear of ‘deep water’. This guy was always at the beach, or so he said, but Grimmjow sure had the tan to prove it and didn’t seem scared of fish…so _what_ was Grimmjow scared of? “It’s fun, isn’t it?”

“Fun, _sure_.” Grimmjow actually did like the koi fish. He spread his hands for them to investigate his fingers.

“Too cold for your balls?”

“No.” All of Grimmjow’s answers had gotten much shorter.

Ichigo hummed a sound. “Hmm.” He might as well get to the heart of it if his friend wasn’t going to give him substantial clues. “What bothers you about deep water?”

Feet still touching the bottom easily, Grimmjow paused trying to relax and watching the fish as they nibbled his limbs with their ticklish fishy mouths. He glanced up once. Ichigo’s face had the type of curiosity that didn’t just go away, and this time it was Grimmjow’s turn to be patient instead of his usual crude.

“You sure it’s not your balls?” Ichigo was offering the other man a humorous way out and flirting.

Grimmjow didn’t seem to mind either and stepped closer to his orange-haired friend that was cleaving to the side of the pond. He pointed up at his own face and stared at the other man. “Look.”

Scrunching his own expression Ichigo tried to figure out why. At first he thought that was the beginning of a sentence but when that was it he followed the gesture and studied the other man’s angular, shaven and handsome features hard. No awkward tan lines. Thin eyebrows, bright eyes, a pointy nose, thin lips, a nice face for a man really. “Real nice shave, but I don’t see what you mean…” he mentioned.

“ _Look_ ,” Grimmjow had repeated with more insistence. After pointing again he hardly blinked.

Following a moment of feeling really awkward to get an unblinking stare, Ichigo shifted against the edge on the pond to lean in a little bit closer. Grimmjow’s eyes were an oceanic blue and the most magnetizing feature about his face. Ichigo now noticed a few scars and, “Your eyes are _different!_ ” When Grimmjow nodded Ichigo got a little excited. “I see!” They were just _slightly_ different around the blue irises. “That’s cool! Wait…so _why?_ ”

“One of them is fake,” the pale-blue-haired man answered back to blinking normally again.

Ichigo looked surprised and interested as he tried to figure out which one. He truly couldn’t tell. “So you have a glass eye?”

“Uuuh, I think that’s how they used to make them. This is a plastic prosthesis. Still a prosthetic eye.”

“Wow. They made it _exactly_ like your other one…” Ichigo squinted. He still couldn’t tell which one it was. He realized he might be a little too intent on this and moved back. “Sorry…”

“No. It’s fine. Watch.” To show his friend the difference Grimmjow flicked his vision one way and one eye was just a little slower to track. He looked back quickly and the same thing happened before they were exactly matching. They didn’t have exactly the same range of motion either but he didn’t push it; the differences were subtle. Hence why he tried not to do this normally. This fact definitely wasn’t just something Grimmjow told anybody either. “Appreciate if ya keep this to yourself.” Even his most of his other friends didn’t know.

“I see, I see. Of course.” Ichigo was totally fascinated. They had something in common. _This was so cool!_ “ _Yargh_.” He couldn’t help it…

Grimmjow chuckled. “Captain Blue Hair.”

Ichigo chuckled. “What is it normally?”

“Dirty blonde.”

“Dirty sounds about right, for you.” Ichigo suddenly remembered what had brought this up. “So they just had to replace it because you had an accident or what?”

“My eye? Was learning to surf. I got hit by a boat in the water.” Grimmjow frowned. An accident. He’d almost drowned. What he didn’t say was that the boat had also hit his group of friends. They weren’t so lucky.

Ichigo’s blood felt a little colder as chilly pond water lapped at him and fish were nibbling less; now it made sense. “That sounds really _awful_ man… I’m sorry that I’m so interested but is that how you got the little scars too?”

“Mostly-” A koi fish almost went up Grimmjow’s shorts and he had to quickly shoo it, which broke up the sober moment in a hurry.

“Is that not for nibbling?” Ichigo laughed loudly.

Grimmjow stared wide at his friend and had to consciously remind his face to relax. “Well…” he rolled his eyes with a smirk. “I guess without teeth it’s fine.”

“Some fish have teeth,” Ichigo remarked looking neutral but on the edge of smug.

“COMFORTING,” Grimmjow croaked at him.

“ _Ahaha!_ ” Despite it all Ichigo was laughing harder but thought that this might be an opportune moment to keep talking, right after he could compose himself and when the koi fish stopped being _rude!_ “Now you can ask _me_ a question, if you want. Since you answered my questions. I think it would be fair to let you ask me something, right?” This was probably the most he’d been able to get Grimmjow to talk since they’d met.

Happy that this particular fish wasn’t determined to come back to the same spot Grimmjow looked at the other man again; he thought of a question immediately but shook his head. “Nah.”

Ichigo started to suspect that Grimmjow had a question at the ready. “What?”

“I said, _‘nah’_.”

“But you have a question.”

“I can’t ask you it. Too rude.”

“I _just_ offered, besides…you called me a _‘cripple’_ once.”

“I did not. I asked how you ‘got crippled’, and why does that matter?”

“Nothing is too rude for you after that and even that didn’t annoy me.”

“It’s still way too rude.”

“Ask. The. Question.”

Grimmjow began to realize through that thick head of his that Ichigo had a point he couldn’t refute and if he didn’t want to look like an idiot he might want to end the argument by complying and proving his own point. He lowered his voice, “Your legs don’t work…does anything else _down there_ not work?” With a stubborn tension to his expression he stared at Ichigo’s dumb face.

A couple seconds ticked by… _‘Anything else..? … Down there…’_ Ichigo’s thoughts clicked into gear. “Oooh…you mean my _junk_ ,” he smirked. “Yes _it_ works. My legs just don’t work because the tendons and bones that got damaged aren’t strong enough to allow me to walk and my knees are destroyed. _That bone_ is fine.” Ichigo started snickering.

Meanwhile Grimmjow felt so awkward he didn’t even make a sound but he almost wanted to reflexively snicker back just so that that awkward feeling would go away. “Well _good for you_ …” he sassed defensively, “and you see, that was _way_ too rude.”

“No one else ever asks me such interesting questions.” A sly Ichigo smirked as he picked up on Grimmjow’s further awkwardness. “Does _yours_ work?”

“I could do push-ups with it,” Grimmjow snarled.

“What else?” Ichigo fearlessly laid that on smooth.

Effectively embarrassed and outgunned for the moment Grimmjow turned as pink as a petunia, “Jeeze, you’re a nosy little-”

“Cripple?” Ichigo cut in, satisfied to see his friend flustered.

“ _Yeah_.” Grimmjow’s eyes snapped toward the other man despite how obvious the current state of his face was, and he wasn’t known for being embarrassed easily. Fuck, his friend was brutal! The worst part was he _liked_ that.

Ichigo shrugged and said no more; he’d had his fun.

Frustratingly enough, Grimmjow knew he wasn’t fooling this guy but he managed to play things cooler after that. He started paying more attention to the fish, though Ichigo did tempt him to go into the deeper area of the pond. It wasn’t that Grimmjow couldn’t swim, he was just _uncomfortable_ with being in deep water, but Ichigo’s presence and the clear water with all of the colorful koi cancelled some of that fear out. When the afternoon was waning, they were getting out of the koi pond but by the ladder one man grasped the upper part of the other’s arm.

Ichigo asked Grimmjow to wait.

Still very much in the water Grimmjow stopped and turned around, still holding the ladder with his other hand but not climbing on it yet. He watched Ichigo’s face as his friend looked like he wanted to say something but was just too…was it embarrassment or confusion? Grimmjow couldn’t tell; he was confused too if that’s what it was. He noticed that Ichigo hadn’t let go of his arm, using it to stay upright and…

Finally a word came out, “Thanks.” Ichigo smiled but his expression was mixed up with something else. All he could stare at was Grimmjow’s chest.

Grimmjow let go of the ladder and held out that hand, palm up, toward Ichigo who looked very confused by it for a second – like his friend didn’t believe that the gesture was real, but of course Ichigo trusted Grimmjow.

When Ichigo moved his other hand up out of the water and put it in Grimmjow’s, the man of orange hair found that hand brought to Grimmjow’s shoulder and both of Grimmjow’s went to his waist. Just by a little Ichigo felt himself lifted off the bottom of the pond and they started to sway, shifting, slowly and moving through the water. This was a slow dance. Ichigo could feel his legs drifting through the water as he came a little closer, still holding onto the other man’s shoulder and arm for support. He made a soft sound like the beginning of a laugh because he almost couldn’t believe it. He was glad; he was so glad as he watched the koi fish swimming around them and between their bodies. Then he dared to look up as Grimmjow moved them in slow turns through the water. “I thought you were straight…”

“I never said that,” Grimmjow had to correct but he was very soft about it. He wasn’t dim; he knew what Ichigo thought of him. Never would he have taken such a step without Ichigo initiating.

“Right.” Ichigo looked back down with a shy but forcibly contained expression that suddenly wanted to be elated.

Grimmjow smirked and pulled his friend a bit closer, one last fish wiggled out from between them and their chests bumped together as he held Ichigo in a sort of warm embrace and just shut his eyes smiling. The side of either’s head against the other. Grimmjow’s chin was over Ichigo’s shoulder; unexpectedly this was the friend he needed right now.

Ichigo’s jaw was pressed up against Grimmjow’s neck and shoulder, and he’d moved his arms around the other man’s shoulders to hang on. In the water he felt like he was normal…like he wasn’t held down… Some purple wisteria blooms were falling on the pond. The breeze was carrying their sweet scent around. The smell of the grass and water mixed with that. This part of the garden was peaceful and mostly quiet. The men were moving so smoothly in this slow turning and swaying, gentle dance that the water was rather still as the koi fish were calm and more used to their presence. Ichigo watched the ripples on the pond and breathed in the naturesque air over his friend’s shoulder – not missing another masculine scent and Grimmjow’s warm skin. This was a dream… It had to be…right? Ichigo got the smallest shiver as he felt someone kiss his neck. “Did you just..?”

“It was a fish.”

“You’re not supposed to pick them up.”

Grimmjow chuckled, “It jumped.”

Ichigo smiled and closed his eyes, settling his face into the crook of the other man’s neck and continuing to cling. He would stay like this for as long as Grimmjow would allow; which was a long time, until the sun started to set and the sky was a fiery orange, purple and blue.

The familiar staff member had come to check on them because it had been so long, but before announcing another presence the person took a picture of the men in the pond and texted it to Grimmjow’s phone, who was still none the wiser, then rattled the gate a little.

That startled the two in the water who looked up and over, but neither shoved the other away.

The staff member apologized for interrupting but they had to get going so the other garden staff could finish closing up and head home. They could take a half an hour to find their way back to the staff offices to return the badges. The staff member left them alone after informing them.

Both _shivering_ as they got out Grimmjow cursed as he realized that he had _completely_ forgotten to tell Ichigo to bring a towel and he hadn’t brought one either! “Fucking shit.” That was such bad form, but they used their shirts as much as possible. Since the setting sun wasn’t as warming it was harder to dry off.

“ _Oh!_ I had a blanket in here we could have used all along…”

Grimmjow looked at their sopping shirts. “Is your memory crippled too?” Ichigo was in perfect position to pinch him for that. They tried wringing out their shirts more and took a few pictures of the pond…where Grimmjow discovered the discrete picture that the staff member he knew had sent him. He was a little embarrassed but that feeling was nothing he couldn’t contain…mostly.

After using the blanket to dry his plumeria-pattered trunks some Ichigo was puzzled why Grimmjow was still looking at his cellphone. “What’ve you got there?”

Grimmjow sighed. “Blackmail. Probably.”

Ichigo’s butt was still pretty wet, and that would make sitting in his chair miserable, so the other man gave him another piggyback ride.

The pond’s gate was closed and locked behind them. One man pushed the other’s nice-looking wheelchair one-handed, with their drying shirts draped on it, along pathways of the garden as they departed the serene pond.

Bundled in a mostly-dry blanket, Ichigo clung to Grimmjow’s bare back and shoulders and smiled as they left the beautiful wisteria and serene koi pond behind. He’d never forget this; the memory was forever. His crude but kind friend was so warm while they were on their way back and to be on their way before evening’s darkness. Ichigo was leaning his head against the back of Grimmjow’s as he looked at the plants of the garden as they passed them, all so green and colorful still in the fading light. He felt like he wanted to cry a little but this time felt like it was caused by a good emotion.

His friend of orange hair wasn’t super light, but very warm, and holding Ichigo’s legs one-handed while pushing the wheelchair with the other was not easy. Despite those Grimmjow still walked the intentionally _longer_ way through the garden paths. He found it surprisingly even more wonderful to see the garden for the second time despite how much work it was to do so and how the shadows hid some of the plants.

Ichigo sniffed; his hands shifted.

Grimmjow glanced over his shoulder, the side he could see on.

Ichigo was rubbing his own eyes.

“Something wrong?”

“You make me cry.” Ichigo had no idea they’d have such a nice time! It was getting to him in the _‘worst’_ way.

Grimmjow was minding the pathway again. Him neither. “Crybaby.” He smirked.

“Asshole.” Ichigo started to chuckle, more easily stopping the tears because Grimmjow’s damn crude disposition leveled him out. “This is crazy.”

Grimmjow started to chuckle too. “I’ll do crazy stuff again. Would you?”

“I’d love to.”

You could spend your whole life just looking at the things you want. Equally you could spend a lifetime fearing the things you don’t, or regretting and running away. I’m not practiced in the art of running away. And you could say it’s because I was stupid and never knew what that meant, or that I might have had a moral leg to stand on and stuck around, but I’d like to think it’s because I had two; two legs to stand on, and that was all I needed to get up and do things that needed doing.

 _Virtue_ gives us good legs to stand on…even if we don’t really know why, or when we can’t stand at all…and _unity_ , it gives us a reason.

Read ALL my fanfictions on ArchiveofOurOwn.org. Art via: DeviantArt.com/FicticiousDelicious or FicticiousDelicious.Tumblr.com

**Author's Note:**

> So this story's ending, again with the endings, was the trouble for me and I realized that it was just too long in drafts. Short stories do great with fairly open endings. Open and warm endings are so very tender.
> 
> And yes, yes! I put our good boy in a wheelchair. But for a good reason!


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